The Clothes Off Your Back
by FateChica
Summary: Poor Gohan runs out of regular school clothes and has to go to school in clothes that make him look hot! The Horror! Anyway, can Gohan survive with the entire female student body chasing after him and his clothes while waiting for Chi-Chi to do his laun
1. Chapter 1

Woot! It's me! I've reemerged in the land of fanfiction...hopefully on a semi-permanent basis this time. I know this isn't an update to "Judgment of the Heavens" (which is being worked on, have no fear. I'm writing the three parts of that story simultaneously and don't want to post it until the first one is done), but this story is good in it's own way, or at least I think so.   
  
My younger sister and I came up with this idea late one night and laughed our asses off about it. Essentially, Gohan runs out of regular clothes (you know, the ones that make him look cute-dorky) and has to wear clothes that make him look hot (gasp! never!). Needless to say, a whole bunch of girls suddenly take notice to the young Son Gohan, who unknowingly starts a school-wide war over his clothing! Add this to Videl's new attraction to the demi-Saiya-jin and a mother who just doesn't have time to do his laundry, I'd say poor Gohan as a lot to deal with!  
  
Basically, this is me trying to put an original spin on the whole Gohan-Torture genre that seems so popular these days and I think I succeeded rather well. So, without further ado, I present to you, "The Clothes Off Your Back"!  
  
But, first, a disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own DBZ. I tried to get my name added to the list of those who do own it, but I was laughed at and escorted out of the building. I guess it wasn't meant to be, eh?  
  
------The Clothes Off Your Back------  
  
It was a cool winter morning outside, clear skies and crisp air. It was the type of morning that Gohan loved to wake up to, the morning where he was grateful for the warmth held underneath his blankets. On this day, Gohan woke up about 15 minutes before his alarm was set to go off. He turned onto his side and stared out of the window, admiring the day. He could feel it; it was going to be a good day. A smile settled onto his face as he looked out the window, looking forward to the day ahead.   
  
After a few minutes, Gohan stretched, his muscles loosening up as he readied himself to get out of bed. He got out of bed and turned off his alarm, not needing it to go off that day, and walked over to his dresser, a small smile still on his face. He opened the drawer that contained his school clothes and the moment he peered into the drawer, the smile faded from his face; it was suddenly looking like a crappy day.  
  
"MOM!!!" Gohan yelled, horror staining his voice. Down from the kitchen, Chi-Chi could hear the estranged cry from her son and, worried like only a mother can be, she dropped what she was doing in the kitchen and rushed up the stairs. She came to a screeching stop in front of her oldest son's door and opened it, her eyes scanning the inside of the room quickly, looking for the source of the problem.  
  
"What is it, Gohan? What's wrong?" she said, breathless. She spotted Gohan standing by his dresser and approached him. Gohan turned around, his face pale beneath his tan that he obtained from working outside.  
  
"Mom, I have no clean school clothes for today. I don't have anything to wear to school!" Gohan said, as if it were the biggest tragedy on earth. Chi-Chi's brow furrowed.  
  
"That's ridiculous, Gohan. Of course you have clothes. What about all those clothes I bought for you to wear to school that you haven't worn yet?" Chi-Chi asked, gesturing towards his closet. Gohan looked at her as if she had grown another head.  
  
"Are you kidding mom? Those clothes that you bought me will expose everything! I wear the clothes that I do to hide my muscles from the other kids. If they saw what I really looked like, all the kids at school would think I'm a freak!" Gohan exclaimed.   
  
"Well, no wonder you don't have a girlfriend," Chi-Chi said, "I mean, if you don't show off that body of yours, those girls will never know what they're missing out on." Gohan blushed to the roots of his hair.  
  
"MOM! I thought I told you not to say things like that in front of me!" Gohan said. Chi-Chi merely cast aside Gohan's words with a shake of her head.  
  
"Now, Gohan, you have plenty of clothes. But, if you want to wear those baggy clothes you always wear, I'll just have to do your laundry today and you're going to have to put up wearing the clothes I bought for you to go to school in," Chi-Chi said, walking over to Gohan's closet and pulling out a couple articles of clothing.  
  
"Now, here," Chi-Chi continued, shoving the clothes in Gohan's unsuspecting arms, "Go take a shower and get dressed before getting breakfast." Chi-Chi left the room in her usual rush, hurrying back downstairs to finish breakfast. Gohan sighed and pulled out a clean pair of boxers from the top drawer before retreating to the bathroom. Dropping the clothes on the bathroom counter, Gohan stripped, his clothes dropping to the floor, and turned on the shower spray, stepping underneath the warm water, allowing it to relax him.   
  
Maybe things won't be so bad, Gohan thought as he stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel hanging of a rack to dry himself off with. He dressed in the clothes his mother picked out for him and, upon seeing himself in the fogged mirror, nearly died from shock. Stumbling downstairs, Gohan walked into the kitchen, his bare feet padding on the floor, and stared at his mother.  
  
"Mom, I can't wear this to school," Gohan said, his voice weak. Chi-Chi turned around and inspected her son. She ignored the bare feet and allowed her gaze to sweep over the outfit she picked out for him. A pair of nice, dark jeans adorned his lower body, hugging slightly to his built lower body, while his upper body sported a tight, ribbed black turtleneck, showing off the shape of his muscles for all the world to see. Stars appeared in Chi-Chi's eyes as she looked at Gohan, clearly impressed.  
  
"Oh, Gohan, you look so handsome!" Chi-Chi exclaimed, completely ignoring or just not noticing the despaired look on Gohan's face, "You should dress like this every day!" Gohan grimaced at Chi-Chi's words before his face fell once more.  
  
"But, mom, everyone will look at me funny!" Gohan said, "I'm just not going to go to school today and I'll go back to school tomorrow once my laundry's done." Gohan immediately regretted his words as Chi-Chi sprouted a pair of devil horns, literally.  
  
"Son Gohan!" she yelled, "You are not skipping out on school today and that is final! You either go to school in those clothes or you go to school naked! Do you understand me, young man?" Chi-Chi advanced on her son, literally standing over him, forcing her son to cower on the floor.  
  
"Yes, ma'am," Gohan squeaked, "I'll just go upstairs and put on socks and shoes before eating breakfast." Chi-Chi backed off Gohan and nodded.  
  
"Good," she said, "Now, hurry up. You don't want to be late to school, do you?" Gohan shook his head and scurried upstairs, hoping to keep his mother from growing angry again. Pulling on a pair of socks and black shoes, Gohan came back down to the kitchen to see breakfast waiting for him at the table and Goten already wolfing down his portion. Gohan hurried to the table, getting to his share before Goten got to it, and ate at the same pace that Goten maintained. Chi-Chi looked on with pride as her two boys ate her food with gusto.   
  
They're growing so fast. Gohan is almost 18, but mentally an adult in his own right. I just can't believe it, Chi-Chi thought, walking over to the closet and pulling out a jacket. She went back over to the kitchen table and handed the jacket to a standing Gohan.   
  
"Here," she said, "I know you can use your ki to warm yourself, but I still think you should have a jacket on a winter day. People might wonder if you don't." Gohan took the coat from his mother, a black pea coat, and put it on.  
  
"Thanks mom," Gohan smiled, leaning over to kiss his mother on the cheek, "I should get to school now." Gohan gave his mother a quick smile before going over to the door. He picked up his school bag and, slinging it over his shoulder, opened the front door. Chi-Chi followed Gohan outside and waved good-bye to him as he took off into the air, flying at a fast speed to get to school. (AN: I am not having Saiyaman in this story. I think he's ridiculous and I refuse to have Gohan be that much of a dork.) The flight to school took a mere 25 minutes and Gohan landed in his usual alley, a rarely frequented part of the city, yet close enough to the school so that Gohan only had to walk about 10 minutes.   
  
Before stepping out onto the sidewalk, Gohan removed his jacket, finding the weather to be a little warmer than his mother predicted. He slung it over his shoulder, holding it by two fingers as he pulled out a book from his bag, thumbing it open to where he had doggie-eared a page the night before. Gohan then emerged from the alley, engrossed in his book as he walked to school, completely oblivious to the lustful looks several women were giving him as he passed them by. Gohan operated on autopilot as he approached school; he had tuned out the world around him.   
  
As he walked up the steps to the school entrance, he passed by Eraser, who didn't recognize him at all. Needless to say, Eraser was taken immediately when she saw the dark, handsome stranger. Her mouth dropping open in shock, she couldn't resist checking out the hot, new student as he walked past her, as every other girl and the occasional gay guy did so too. She didn't even feel a twinge of guilt as her eyes lingered on his butt.   
  
As he disappeared from sight, Eraser squealed with excitement and rushed off to the interior of the school to find Videl and tell her the news at once. She finally spotted Videl, out of breath from running, and proceeded to tell Videl the whole thing in one, ragged breath, talking at speeds normal humans couldn't even understand. Videl rubbed her temples as she stood in front of her locker.  
  
"Ok, Eraser," she said patiently, having dealt with Eraser's mood swings for years, "Slow down and try it again." Eraser nodded and closed her eyes, regaining her breath before trying it again.  
  
"Ok," Eraser breathed, "You won't believe what I saw this morning." Videl cocked an eyebrow.  
  
"What?" Videl asked, afraid of the answer.  
  
"I saw the cutest guy on the face of the planet!" Eraser squealed, "He was so hot! He had on this black turtleneck that showed off everything! And those jeans…oh my god! His ass was perfectly showcased in those jeans! And he was tall with this gorgeous black hair. And his face…" Eraser trailed off, sighing at the memory. Videl rolled her eyes.  
  
"I bet it's another new student," Videl grumbled, "He's probably not as good looking as you think. You're probably just on a caffeine high." Eraser glared at Videl.  
  
"I'll have you know that I only had one cup of coffee this morning, thank you very much!" Videl sighed at Eraser.  
  
"Whatever," Videl said, "Let's just get to class." Videl shut her locker and the two girls began walking to class, not noticing the cute guy behind them. But, unfortunately, a certain group of girls noticed the cute guy.  
  
"Like, wow!" a high-pitched blonde exclaimed, looking at Gohan as he passed.  
  
"I know. Isn't he, like, totally gorgeous?" another one sighed, her companions all nodding in agreement.  
  
"Definitely," a red-head piped up, "Girls, we need to find out who he is. He is, like, the hottest thing ever!" The Orange Star High School cheerleaders giggled at the prospect of the cute guy before separating to go to their separate classes (AN: like they even pay attention anyway. Oh, by the way, I mean no disrespect to any cheerleaders out there. I'm just using the stereotypical image of them as a plot device. One of my best friends used to be a cheerleader, so I mean no disrespect!). Back to Videl and Eraser, the two of them had just sat in their seats, Eraser stealing Videl's usual seat, forcing Videl to sit in the seat next to Gohan's.  
  
"Eraser, why did you do that?" Videl asked, not willing to beat up her best friend in order to get her seat back. Eraser winked at Videl.  
  
"Because I know you like Gohan," Eraser exclaimed, "You're always wondering about him and staring at him, you know? I just thought that sitting next to him would give you a better chance to get to know him." Videl almost exploded at Eraser's words.  
  
"I don't like him! I'm just curious about him, is all." Eraser looked like she didn't believe Videl for a minute.  
  
"Sure, Videl," she drawled, "You say whatever you want. I know your real feelings." Videl just shook her head and set the issue aside; she knew that she was never going to convince Eraser of anything different, so she might as well just shut up about the matter, despite the fact that something about Eraser's words struck something in her heart. The pair was silent for a few moments before Videl heard a loud gasp from next to her. Videl looked over at Eraser, a confused look on her face.  
  
"What is it, Eraser?" Videl asked. Eraser pointed down to the front of the classroom.  
  
"That's the guy I was telling you about earlier!" Eraser exclaimed. Videl looked in the direction of Eraser's pointed finger and was blown away just as Eraser had been. Videl whistled softly.  
  
"Damn, I may not want to admit this, Eraser, but you were right. He is hot!" Videl exclaimed softly, but Eraser didn't even hear her words as she stared at the new guy, leaving Videl to admire him as well.   
  
Look at how built he is! Wow, Videl thought, unable to tear her eyes off of the guy and ashamed at her actions. Her shocked, admiring look disappeared as the guy walked up the stairs towards their row. Videl became quite irked when the guy just sat in Gohan's seat without even asking if he could sit there.   
  
He may be cute, but he's a jerk! Videl thought, her opinion of the guy sitting next to her doing a complete 180.   
  
"Excuse me," Videl said, "But that is someone's seat, you jerk, and I don't think he would appreciate it if you just took it from him." The guy turned to look at her, a perplexed look on his face.  
  
"But, Videl, this is my seat," Gohan spoke, Videl still not recognizing him.  
  
"Yeah, well I-" Videl cut herself off as she got a closer look at the guy sitting next to her. She paled with shock as she realized who it was.  
  
"Gohan!" she exclaimed, alerting the whole class as to who the mysterious, yet handsome stranger was. Gohan sighed.  
  
"Yeah, I know, I look like a freak. Well, I had no clean school clothes, so I had to resort to wearing these. I look pretty weird, huh?" Gohan asked, his tone sincere. Videl just nodded, but inwardly was confused.   
  
Maybe he isn't like all the others. I mean, I'd think with a body like his, he'd be showing it off every chance he got. But, from the look on his face, it seems like he just wants to hide. How interesting, Videl mused, turning away as a blush arose on her cheeks. Eraser leaned over Videl and stared at Gohan.  
  
"Gohan, is that you?" Eraser breathed. Gohan nodded.  
  
"Yeah, it's me, Eraser," Gohan said. Eraser nearly fainted.  
  
"Wow, Gohan, you look so hot! I never knew you were hiding something under those clothes of yours!"  
  
"Didn't I tell you," a male voice said from the other side of Eraser; it was Sharpener, "I told you he has muscle. I mean, I've seen him change in gym class. But you didn't believe me!"   
  
"And I'm sorry I didn't!" Eraser exclaimed, openly staring at Gohan's form. Gohan blushed under the scrutiny.  
  
"I don't think I look THAT hot, Eraser," Gohan admitted, his voice barely higher than a whisper, "I feel more like a freak than anything else." Sharpener, magically, heard Gohan's words and laughed slightly at his friend.  
  
"Well, dude, you don't look like a freak. I mean, have you noticed all of the girls staring at you today? They think you're 'like, way hot'," Sharpener said, his voice rising to a high falsetto as he imitated some of the girls on campus. Gohan's blush deepened still and he found himself burying his face in one of his textbooks, trying to hide from the stares of the girls around him.   
  
Gohan finally became aware of what was going on around him, his sensitive Saiya-jin ears picking up the whispers of several of the girls around him. He was grateful for the book hiding his face; he knew that his face was turning shades of red that didn't even exist in nature. Luckily, for Gohan, the sensei walked in and class commenced, forcing the rest of the students to pay attention to the sensei's words. He sighed in relief as the whispers he had been hearing before quieted down to nothingness before tuning in to the sensei's words, letting his mind focus on the material.   
  
Morning class went by rather smoothly for Gohan, nary a thing happening to further embarrass Gohan. He smiled in relief as the bell rang at the end of third period, signaling the beginning of lunch for Orange Star students. With excitement over food that only a Saiya-jin could muster, Gohan practically floated all the way to his locker, putting his bag in there as he pulled out the capsule that contained his lunch. Pocketing the small capsule, Gohan turned around and screamed at the sight in front of him. Surrounding him, wearing the orange and white uniforms, was the Orange Star High School cheerleading squad, all of them looking like they wanted to rip the clothes from his body.  
  
"Well, hello," the squad leader purred, sidling up to Gohan, pressing her body against his in a very provocative manner.  
  
"Uh, hi," Gohan said, his voice meek. He squeaked in surprise as he felt several pairs of hands grab his body, pinching him in several places, a couple of them inappropriate. The squad leader put a hand on his upper arm, squeezing the muscle there.  
  
"Well, Gohan, I never expected you to have quite so much muscle," the squad leader said, her deep brown eyes looking up at him sweetly, shaking her head a tiny bit to allow a few strands of her auburn hair to fall in her eyes in an attempt to seduce Gohan. Gohan, however, was not seduced. Instead, he was utterly terrified.  
  
"Um," Gohan said, "Do you think you could take a couple of steps back?" The squad leader, whose name, if Gohan remembered correctly from Videl's tirades, was Kimberly, only smiled up at him.  
  
"But Gohan, I only want to get to know you better," Kimberly said.  
  
"Well, maybe he doesn't want to get to know you at all," a rough feminine voice yelled. Gohan turned his head and looked at Videl, grateful for her presence. At once, the cheerleading squad backed off, all of them afraid of Videl, and left, tittering about how they got to touch Gohan. Gohan sighed with relief as they left, watching them leave to make sure they actually went away, and turned to Videl, sighing.  
  
"Thank you so much, Videl, they were really scaring me. I mean, the only girl I want that close to me is-EEP!" Gohan clasped a hand over his mouth, the deer-caught-in-headlights look ruining the handsome visage. Videl's eyes narrowed.  
  
"Is who, Gohan?" she demanded. Gohan removed his hand from his mouth and shook his head.  
  
"Uh, no one you would know, Videl," Gohan rushed to say, thankful that he had caught himself in time.   
  
I almost spilled my secret of being in love with Videl to Videl herself! I am such an idiot! Gohan thought. Videl rolled her eyes.  
  
"You're lucky that I'm in a good mood today or else I would be forced to beat that piece of information out of you. Now, come on; let's go to lunch." Gohan's mood brightened at the thought of lunch.  
  
"Ooh, lunch. Don't need to tell me twice!" Gohan exclaimed before the two went out to the courtyard to join their two friends. They found Sharpener and Eraser sitting under their usual tree. As usual, Gohan decapsulized his lunch, a little larger than normal, and his three friends picked out from his vast assortment of foods what they wanted to eat that day. It wasn't too hard to convince Chi-Chi to make a little more food to feed his friends, especially seeing how they ate nowhere near as much as Gohan did.   
  
Once they had taken what they want, they let Gohan go at the rest, all of them amazed at how much Gohan could pack away. Gohan finished the feast made for a small army in no less than 10 minutes. Leaning back, Gohan patted his sated stomach, unaware of the disgusted and shocked looks of Sharpener, Eraser, and Videl.  
  
"Gohan, I'll have you know that that's disgusting," Sharpener said. Gohan looked over at Sharpener, all innocence.  
  
"What's disgusting? The way I eat?" Gohan asked, feeling offended for a second before brushing it off, "Yeah, well, I guess you could say that my eating habits are hereditary. My father always ate like that and my little brother is just like him."   
  
"Your poor mom!" Eraser exclaimed, "She has to make so much food everyday." Gohan smirked.  
  
"Yeah, she does, but I think she likes it. Cooking is always something that my mother has loved to do and she gets to do it in mass quantities," Gohan explained, leaning against the tree for support as his stomach digested his meal. His friends finished their lunch, deciding not to think about Gohan's large and unusual appetite, and began talking to each other to occupy the time until the bell rang that signaled the end of lunch. The four stood up and went back to class, Gohan hoping that the rest of the day would go by smoothly. Luckily for Gohan, it did; there were no other major incidents that would have resulted in Gohan's utter embarrassment.   
  
The final bell rang for the day and Gohan and Videl stood up and went down to their lockers, which were only a few apart from one another's. Videl quickly rummaged through her locker, making a quick assessment of what she would need that night, before closing the door. Looking over to her left, she sighed in annoyance.  
  
"Hey Gohan, you're Stripleaders are here," Videl dryly commented. Gohan looked over at Videl before turning his head to look in the direction she was looking in, his eyes widening with fear. Strolling down the hall, not caring about anything going on around them, were the Orange Star High School cheerleaders. They passed Gohan, all of them winking at him as they went by. When they disappeared out of sight, Gohan sighed in relief and turned to Videl.  
  
"Hey, why'd you call them Stripleaders?" Gohan asked. Videl smirked.  
  
"Well, when I saw them crowd you earlier today, they looked like they wanted just to strip you of all you're clothing. Hence the change from cheerleaders to Stripleaders." Gohan had to chuckle, though it sounded full of apprehension.  
  
"That's actually pretty funny, though I have a bad feeling about the rest of the week," Gohan said, his eyes narrowing slightly. Videl just waved her hand at him, pushing away the idea.  
  
"I'm sure it was only this day," Videl said, "I'm sure tomorrow will be fine. But, you do look very nice in that outfit." Gohan blushed slightly. Videl was complimenting him? That was a rare occasion, indeed. Gohan smiled.  
  
"Thanks, but don't expect me to dress like this very often. I feel like a freak when I dress like this and I don't like the unwarranted attention." Videl raised her eyebrows at Gohan.  
  
"Unwarranted?" she questioned, "Gohan, I hardly think that the attention you got today was unwarranted. The general populous was just very shocked and very pleased to find out that you had so much muscle. Hell, I didn't even recognize you when I first saw you this morning!" By the time Videl had finished, she had gone into full tirade mode, her breathing slightly labored as she had ended her little speech with a loud voice. It was Gohan's turn to raise his eyebrows, confused by Videl's little performance.   
  
What is it about out of the ordinary days that always bring out secrets I'm not willing to share and other interesting events? It's like Dende has it out for me up there, or something, Gohan thought, thinking Videl's heated reaction very interesting, not knowing what to make of it. (AN: Well, my dear Gohan-chan, Dende isn't the one controlling your life today. I am! That's right! FateChica has kicked Dende off the Lookout, become Kami and she is controlling Gohan's life. It's so good to be Kami…) Gohan shrugged the incident aside and smiled slightly at Videl.  
  
"Well," Gohan said, "I better get home. I have something to check at home that's rather important." Gohan was purposely vague in his explanation. Videl sighed, not having the energy to dig for an explanation.   
  
"Then you should go," Videl said.  
  
"Right," Gohan smiled, "I'll see you tomorrow." Gohan gathered his stuff, closed his locker, and ran out the door, running a few blocks before ducking into the same alley he arrived in, taking off like a shot into the sky. It wasn't long until Gohan arrived at home, only to come to an empty house. Upon entering his home, he noticed the silence that permeated from everywhere in the house. Gohan's face took on a look of confusion as he moved into the kitchen.  
  
"Mom?" he called out loudly, looking around for signs of his mother. A few moments later, Gohan spotted a piece of paper on the kitchen table. Walking over to it, Gohan picked it up and read it.  
  
"Gohan," it read, "I've taken Goten to Bulma's while I go shopping. I'm planning on staying the night there, so I made dinner for you already. It's in the refrigerator; just heat it up in the microwave. And, I'm sorry, but I forgot to do your laundry today. I'll just do it tomorrow. I picked out something else for you to wear; it's on your bed. Love you, honey, and I'll see you tomorrow. Mom." Gohan groaned.   
  
Since when did I have to have my clothes picked out by my mother? And she forgot to do my laundry? I'd do it myself, but the last time I did my laundry, I ended up ruining all of my clothes. I still don't know how I did that! Gohan thought to himself, decided to just brave whatever outfit his mother picked out with him than to risk ruining his clothes by trying to wash them himself. Gohan sighed loudly before trudging upstairs to do his homework.   
  
--------  
  
Ok, side note. My sister (yes, the same one who helped create this little baby...she and I are addicted to DBZ. I do fanfiction, she does fanart) and I have come to the conclusion that we use Sharpener for our own purposes. I mean, you have Nice Sharpener, who appears in this story, Asshole Sharpener, who always seems to be angry at Gohan for taking away Videl from him and swearing revenge, and Annoying Sharpener, the general form of Sharpener that appears in all other fanfics out there, only serving as a simple obstacle between Videl and Gohan. I swear, Sharpener's like Barbie. He has many different forms/identities and you can choose to use the one that suits your mood the best. Poor Sharpener... 


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, second part. Not going to bother with author's note.  
  
Disclaimer: see part 1  
  
------The Clothes Off Your Back------  
  
The next morning, Gohan woke up with a groan, not anticipating the day ahead of him. He knew it was going to be just as bad as the day before, if not worst depending on what outfit his mother had put together for him before she left. Gohan hadn't even bothered to look at it, not wanting to think about the resulting torture that his mind would be put through when he had things to do that evening.   
  
Instead, Gohan had just scooped up the clothes and put them on top of his dresser, completely ignoring them for the rest of the evening. But, he had to face the music and just get out of bed, get ready, and put on the outfit his mother picked out for him. Gohan snorted slightly.   
  
Kami, you'd think I was 5 years old again with my mom picking out my clothes, Gohan thought as he picked up the outfit and trudged into the bathroom to take a shower. He showered quickly and got dressed, groaning at the outfit once more.  
  
"Is mom trying to kill me, or something?" Gohan asked himself as he checked himself out in the mirror. He wore a slightly loose pair of jeans. He supposed those weren't so bad since allowed him to hide a bit of his muscular physique. But his upper body was a completely different story. His mother had given him a white wife-beater with a short-sleeved black silk shirt over it. Gohan didn't even have the energy to button up the black shirt because he was so worried about the day ahead.   
  
He walked downstairs and pulled two lunch capsules out of the box that Bulma had given them, one for breakfast and one for lunch. He opened up one of them in the front hall and immediately consumed the entire feast that was laid in front of him on the capsule table. Quickly finishing off breakfast, Gohan capsulated the table and put in the box of used capsules on the kitchen counter. He placed his lunch in his school bag, picked up his black pea coat, and took off for school, flying at the same fast pace he'd used the day before.   
  
When he arrived at school, he was getting stares again, obvious because they were staring at his exposed frame again.   
  
Why does my mother love to torment me? This is so embarrassing! Gohan thought, trying to melt into the woodwork as he slunk he way off to class. He entered his class room and sat down in his usual seat, the seat next to him now occupied by Videl. He removed his coat and laid it over his head, leaning against the desk. Videl chuckled as she watched Gohan try to hide; it was as if he were trying to use the coat as a shield from the outside world.  
  
"You know, hiding yourself underneath your coat isn't going to stop people from talking about your body, you know that, right?" Videl could hear a moan come from underneath the coat and, seconds later, Gohan emerged.  
  
"My life sucks," Gohan told her simply.  
  
"Why, because you have to dress like a normal guy?" Videl asked. Gohan shook his head.  
  
"No, because everyone is staring at me! I wish my mom had done my laundry yesterday like she said she would. But, no! She had to go shopping and leave Goten at Bulma's then decide to stay at Capsule Corp herself! Why me?" Gohan whined. Videl's eyes grew wide.  
  
"You mean Bulma as in Bulma Briefs? The owner of Capsule Corporation?" Videl asked in hushed tones. Gohan nodded.  
  
"Yeah, who else would I be talking about?" Gohan asked. Videl just stared.  
  
"Gohan, don't you know that she's famous? I mean, she's only the smartest woman in the world who owns the world's biggest technology corporation," Videl whispered. Gohan looked confused.  
  
"Well, I knew she was really smart and famous, but I didn't know she was THAT famous," Gohan said, his tone completely sincere. Videl felt like she was going to fall over from the shock. What was up with Gohan?  
  
"Well," she said, changing the subject, "I guess you're going to have to wait until your mom can do your laundry today. So, you're going to have to put up with the normal outfit for one more day. Though, you know that your life here at Orange Star High is never going to be the same again, right?" Gohan nodded.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fully aware of the consequences of yesterday and today's outfits. Please don't remind me," Gohan sighed, placing his jacket on the back of the chair and pulling out his notebook for class.  
  
"At least I didn't get accosted by my, as you put it, Stripleaders," Gohan said, thankful for at least one thing. Videl chuckled.  
  
"I wouldn't get your hopes up yet, pretty boy. You've still got the rest of the day to deal with. Especially lunch," Videl said, chuckling at the groan that Gohan emitted before banging his head against the desktop.  
  
"Why me?" he said. Videl placed a comforting hand on his back.  
  
"Don't worry," she said, "I'll protect you. I'm feeling generous today. But I'll figure out your secrets yet, Gohan. Remember that." Gohan lifted his head and flashed a smile at her, one that managed to turn Videl's insides to jelly.  
  
"Don't worry. I won't forget," Gohan said before pulling out a pen and opening his notebook right before their teacher entered the class. Videl tried to calm herself down as class began.   
  
What was that feeling all about? I'm not falling for Gohan, am I? I can't be! I told myself I would never fall for a guy, ever. But…Gohan is different…no! It doesn't matter! Videl mentally resolved, following Gohan's example and getting ready to take notes for class.  
  
***  
  
The dreaded lunch hour had arrived. Gohan, who normally counted down the milliseconds until lunch started, wished it had never come. Ever since Videl had mentioned the "Stripleaders", Gohan had feared the approaching lunch hour with every fiber of his being. Now that it had arrived, Gohan just wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Videl sighed, an amused smile on her face.  
  
"Come on, Gohan. Don't worry. I'm sure everything will be all right," Videl comforted. Gohan shot her a sullen look.  
  
"Easy for you to say," Gohan grumbled, "You don't have the entire cheerleading squad chasing after you." Videl laughed, despite Gohan's condition.  
  
"I should sure hope I don't have the cheerleading squad chasing after me. I'd have to worry about the sexual orientation of every cheerleader in this school if I did," Videl said, clearly amused by the concept of lesbian cheerleaders.   
  
"Ha ha, very funny," Gohan said, his tone scathing.  
  
"I'm sorry, Gohan," Videl said, tuning down the broad smile on her face. Gohan's mood did a turn-around to what it had been only a few moments before.  
  
"Do you think they're out there?" Gohan asked, his eyes darting around in paranoia.  
  
"Oh, I'm sure they are," Videl sighed, "But, don't worry. I'm here for you." Gohan smiled slightly.  
  
"Thanks," Gohan said, only slightly comforted by Videl's words. Happy to have Videl by his side to help avoid his new fan club, Gohan began walking down the hallway towards the courtyard, Videl walking with him. They were silent as they walked, Gohan holding the capsule the contained not only his lunch, but Videl, Eraser, and Sharpener's as well. A few seconds later, Gohan stopped as a faint noise reached his ears.  
  
"Do you hear something?" Gohan asked, looking around. Videl's brow furrowed and she focused her attention to her sense of hearing. After a couple moments, she shook her head.  
  
"No, Gohan, I don't. I think you're just being paranoid," Videl admonished. Gohan shrugged.  
  
"I guess you're right," he sighed and the two began walking again. Several seconds later, the two both stopped, both of them hearing a noise.  
  
"You hear that, right Gohan?" Videl asked. Gohan nodded.  
  
"Yeah, I do. I don't think I was being paranoid. What do you think that noise is?" he asked. Videl shook her head.  
  
"I don't know. But it sounds a lot like screaming," she said. The two of them turned around as the noise grew in intensity, eventually being accompanied by the sound of people running. The noise was nearly upon them and, before Gohan knew what was happening, he had landed on the ground on his back and was completely confused as to what was going on. Standing up, he rubbed the sides of his arms, suddenly feeling a little cooler than he had a few minutes ago.   
  
With a gasp, he realized something and looked down. His black shirt was gone, leaving only the wife beater. He turned his head to see a large group of girls, huddling and fighting over something. Focusing on the action, Gohan was able to pick up what some of them were saying.  
  
"It's mine!"  
  
"No, it's mine. I grabbed it first."  
  
"Yeah, well I saw him first, so the shirt should be mine!" A dozen or so girls were screaming and fighting over a shirt, Gohan's shirt to be exact. Gohan felt like crying. Videl was currently looking over at Gohan with amusement and awe.   
  
Wow, look at those arms! It should be against the law to have arms like that, Videl thought to herself before shaking the thought away. She turned her attention over to Gohan, who looked like he just wanted to crawl underneath a rock and die. Walking over to him, she placed a small hand on one of the arms she had just been thinking about.   
  
"Hey, are you ok?" Videl asked. Gohan jumped slightly at the feeling of Videl's hand pressed against his bare skin.  
  
"No," he said, his voice holding a hint of a whine, "Now I only have this flimsy little tank-top thingy for the rest of the day. I swear, Kami has it out for me." Gohan mentally yelled a curse at Dende, knowing the young, Nameksei-jin guardian would be able to hear him.   
  
I hope he's shaking in his boots, 'cause he's gonna pay if this is his fault, Gohan thought. Videl sighed and gave Gohan's arm a firm, yet comforting squeeze.  
  
"I'm sorry, Gohan. Don't worry. Hopefully, your mom did your laundry today so you won't have to go through this again," Videl said. Gohan sighed.  
  
"I don't think wearing my regular clothes again is going to be any help at all. I think I'm still going to have those girls after me," Gohan resigned. Videl couldn't help but smile slightly at Gohan's pathetic attitude. Moving over so she was standing in front of him, she placed her other hand on his chest, patting it.  
  
"Don't worry. I'll be here to protect you, remember?" Videl said, throwing Gohan a little smile before walking into the courtyard. Gohan couldn't help but stare after Videl as she walked away.   
  
What's gotten into her? Gohan wondered, trying to puzzle out Videl's strange behavior. It's like she was flirting with me…nah, that can't be it, Gohan thought before following Videl out so he could eat his lunch, leaving his black, silk shirt behind, giving it up for a casualty in this strange war for his clothing.  
  
***  
  
Gohan sighed as he flew home; another day over and done with. The rest of the day had been pure torture for the young demi-Saiya-jin. With the silk shirt having disappeared during lunch hour, Gohan had been left with only the wife-beater and jeans for the rest of the day and having to endure the constant glances and giggles pointed in his direction.   
  
"Kami, what I wouldn't give sometimes to be somebody else entirely," Gohan muttered to him self. Continuing to think about the chaos caused by the day's outfit, Gohan's thoughts took him to another train of thought.   
  
"I'm going to have a talk with mom about this whole outfit deal. I swear she's in league with Dende. She's really trying to torture me. All of this just to get me a girlfriend. Sheesh," Gohan complained, resolved to talk with his mother when he got home. As he approached his mountain home, however, all thoughts of speaking with Chi-Chi about important clothing matters disappeared as he noticed something weird. Noticing the added ki presence in his house, Gohan groaned and slapped a hand to his forehead.  
  
"Great, now my day can't get any worse; Trunks is at my house." Gohan knew he was up for a night of little to no sleep as the two young half Saiya-jins would no doubt be up all night long.  
  
"My life is a big cosmic joke, I swear," Gohan sighed as he lowered himself down onto the large grassy lawn in front of his house. The moment he touched the ground, the front door opened and two blurs came running out of the house at top speeds.  
  
"GOHAN!" the twin cry was and, before Gohan knew what was happening, he was being tackled to the ground by Goten and Trunks, who seemed to want him to play with them.  
  
"Hey, onii-chan, can you play with us? Huh, huh, huh??" Goten exclaimed.  
  
"Yeah!" Trunks agreed, "It would be so cool of you would play games with us!" Gohan picked both of the kids up by the backs of their shirts and held them away as he peeled himself from the ground.  
  
"After I do my homework," Gohan announced, a small smile tugging at his features; despite the fact that they were annoying at times, Gohan couldn't help but admit that they were quite adorable. Twin pouts appeared on both Trunks and Goten's faces.  
  
"How long will that take, onii-chan?" Goten asked.   
  
"Not too long," Gohan replied, "Only about an hour or so. I'm sure you two can find something to do until then. So, what do you want to do after I finish my homework?" Trunks and Goten looked at each other, smiling widely.   
  
"We wanna spar," Trunks said. Gohan chuckled; they were definitely Saiya-jin.  
  
"Yeah," Goten said, "We wanna spar with you like you spar with Vegeta." Gohan raised an eyebrow at that remark.  
  
"I don't think you guys are quite at that level yet," Gohan explained. Gohan, over the years, had become Vegeta's number 1 sparring partner, seeing how as Gohan was the only Saiya-jin, half or no, to have reached the second Super Saiya-jin level. Vegeta sparred with Gohan all the time in an effort to learn how it was done, but he seemed to be getting nowhere fast.   
  
Oh well. At least we're both keeping up our skills, Gohan thought, setting Goten and Trunks back on the ground.  
  
"Now, you guys go and play for a while and I'll come find you when I finish my homework, ok?" Goten and Trunks both nodded before running off, leaving Gohan alone outside. Shaking his head in humor at the two kids, Gohan walked across the lawn and into the open door.  
  
"Mom, I'm home!" Gohan announced, taking off his shoes before moving into the house.  
  
"How was school, Gohan?" his mother's voice sounded from the kitchen.  
  
"If only you knew," Gohan muttered under his breath as he entered the kitchen.  
  
"It was fine, mom," Gohan said for his mom, not wanting to get her worried. He spotted his mom sitting at the kitchen table, a distinct frazzled look on her face.  
  
"Trunks and Goten getting to you again, eh?" Gohan asked, a small smile encroaching his lips as he sat at the table next to Chi-Chi. Chi-Chi sighed with resignation.  
  
"As always. But, I did agree to have Trunks over tonight. It was only fair since Goten stayed over at Bulma's last night," Chi-Chi explained, "Oh, by the way, Bulma and Vegeta are coming over for dinner." Gohan paled slightly.  
  
"They aren't staying over night, are they?" Gohan asked, well aware of Bulma and Vegeta's ritual nightly activities, ones he didn't want to have to listen to as he tried to sleep. Chi-Chi shook her head vehemently.  
  
"Oh, no, they've just coming over to eat dinner. You know Vegeta wouldn't ever sleep at this house unless his life depended on it. Maybe not even then," Chi-Chi said, chuckling slightly. Gohan sighed with relief.  
  
"Good," Gohan breathed, "Well, I'm going to do my homework and then I'm going to play with Trunks and Goten for a while. Tell me when dinner's ready, ok?" Chi-Chi nodded and watched as Gohan stood and started walking out of the kitchen. That's when she noticed something strange.  
  
"Gohan, where's the black silk shirt I gave you to wear today?" Chi-Chi questioned. Gohan froze for a few seconds before slowly turning around, an apprehensive look on his face.  
  
"Well, you see, that's kinda a funny story. I wore it to school and all, but during lunch, a whole bunch of cheerleaders attacked me and stole my shirt. I'm pretty sure that it's probably in pieces by now," Gohan said, watching carefully for his mother's reaction. Chi-Chi looked for a second like she was going to lose it, but at the last minute, calmed down and sighed.  
  
"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now. At least girls are finally noticing you," Chi-Chi said. Gohan nearly fell over from shock and embarrassment. Shaking his head, Gohan turned to leave when question popped into his head.  
  
"Oh, mom, by the way, did you do my laundry today?" Chi-Chi looked at her son, an apologetic look on her face, as she shook her head.  
  
"No, I'm sorry. I had every intention of doing it today, I really did, but I've been handling Trunks and Goten all day and now I have to make dinner to feed four Saiya-jins. I'm not going to be able to do it until tomorrow. I'm really sorry, Gohan," Chi-Chi said. Gohan couldn't find it in himself to be mad at his mother so he pushed aside the issue.  
  
"It's ok, mom. I understand. I'll be ok for one more day," Gohan said, partially lying. Oh, sure, he understood why his mom couldn't do his laundry; he just wasn't sure he could last one more day as poor, little exposed him. Chi-Chi smiled thankfully at her son, watching him turn and go upstairs to do his homework, thinking to herself that Kami had blessed her with giving her such a wonderful son.  
  
***  
  
A few hours later, at the Satan mansion, young Satan Videl stood in her private gym, beating the snot out of a poor punching bag that had done nothing except exist to be, well, punched. Videl felt her tension sliding away as she let loose every punch and kick. How such a simple thing as a punching bag could help Videl calm down.   
  
But, the reason why she was so tense wasn't quite so simple. She had resigned herself to be utterly in love with Son Gohan and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it except hope that he felt the same way.   
  
I can't believe I've fallen in love with him in almost a couple of days, Videl exclaimed mentally. But, she knew that was a lie. She had been in love with Gohan for a while and hadn't even known about it. What she had thought as a deep friendship with Gohan had actually been an attraction to his personality, a personality which complimented hers so well.   
  
It hadn't been until the day before that she realized she was so physically attracted to him, that the sight of him made her feel a desire she had never before experienced. And it scared the hell out of her because she just didn't know how to handle it.   
  
What am I supposed to do? Go up to him and tell him I'm in love with him? He'll laugh at me! Videl thought, knowing that wasn't true either, that she was just exaggerating. No, he'll probably be really sweet about it, but say that he doesn't feel the same way, Videl sighed as her punches and kicks slowed until the stopped all together. Wiping the sweat from her brow, Videl trudged up to her room to get cleaned up.   
  
After a quick shower, during which she couldn't stop thinking about Gohan no matter how hard she tried, Videl dressed in pajamas and deposited herself onto her bed.  
  
"Well, might as well do some homework. Maybe that'll get my mind off of Gohan," Videl mumbled. However, it wasn't to be that easy. Videl found that the only homework she had to do was her math homework, which she had completely forgotten to write down as she had been too busy staring at Gohan.   
  
"Damn him, he's turned me into a love-sick fool!" she exclaimed as she reached over for her phone. Searching through her electronic phone book, she finally found Gohan's number. He had given it to her after she asked, claiming that if she ever needed help on her homework, Gohan would be the only person who could help her. Pressing the talk button, Videl held the phone to her ear, her heart pounding erratically as she awaited an answer on the other side.  
  
***  
  
Meanwhile, at the Son household, dinner currently held sway. Both the Briefs' family and the Son family were totally enthralled in dinner…well, at least those of them that had Saiya-jin blood were. Bulma and Chi-Chi slowly ate their food, practically picking at it, as they watched Vegeta, Gohan, Goten, and Trunks eat like they hadn't eaten in a week, which pretty much summed up how a Saiya-jin always ate.   
  
Suddenly, in the middle of dinner, the phone rang. Swallowing his food, Goten sprung up from his chair.  
  
"I'll get it!" he exclaimed. Not too long ago, he had been given permission from Chi-Chi to answer the phone, a privilege he took joy in partaking of all the time. Practically bouncing over to the phone, he picked it up from its cradle and pressed the talk button.  
  
"Hello?" he asked. On the other side, Videl was slightly taken aback. By all the responses she had been prepared to receive, she hadn't been expecting the voice of a little boy.  
  
"Um, is this the Son residence?" Videl asked slowly. Goten smiled and nodded.  
  
"Uh-huh, it is," Goten said. Videl sighed audibly, relieved that she had the right number.  
  
"Is Gohan there?" A mischievous smile spread over Goten's face.  
  
"Yeah, hold on," Goten said, pulling the phone away from his ear, "Gohan! The phone's for you. It's a girl!" Videl blushed slightly as she heard Goten's voice call out, able to hear the entire conversation on the other side of the phone; it sounded like there were a whole bunch of people over at Gohan's house.  
  
"Who is it?" Gohan asked.  
  
"She didn't say. I bet she's one of your girlfriends," Goten teased.  
  
"Oh, Bulma, isn't that great! Gohan has a girlfriend!" Chi-Chi exclaimed. Bulma giggled slightly.  
  
"And before you know it, he'll be getting married," Bulma supplied.  
  
"And having children! Ahh, grandchildren…" Chi-Chi sighed.  
  
"Mom! Bulma!" Gohan exclaimed, "You guys are way jumping to conclusion. I don't have a girlfriend and I'm way too young to think about marriage and children."  
  
"Yeah right, Gohan," Trunks said, joining Goten in the teasing, "I bet she's your girlfriend. Ooh, kissy, kissy!" Gohan rolled his eyes as he stood up.  
  
"Very funny, Trunks," Gohan said as he took the phone from Goten, aware that all eyes in the kitchen were on him.  
  
"Hello?" Gohan said. Videl jolted back into reality at the sound of Gohan's voice.  
  
"Hey, Gohan. It's me, Videl," she responded. Gohan blushed at his end of the phone.  
  
"Oh, hi Videl," Gohan said.  
  
"You have a very interesting family, you know," Videl said, amusement clear in her voice. Gohan's blushed deepened.  
  
"I'm sorry you had to hear that," Gohan sighed, "And they're not all my family. But they're embarrassing none the less. I mean, mom and Bulma are always pushing about girls and Goten and Trunks are always thinking up another prank to pull on me when they're not begging me to play with them." Videl paused as she realized something.  
  
"Wait, Bulma Briefs is at your house? Eating dinner with you?" Videl asked.   
  
"Yeah," Gohan answered, "She and her family come over all the time. It's not that big of a deal, Videl."  
  
"Maybe for you, it's not," Videl grumbled. There was a short pause during which neither of them knew what to say.  
  
"So," Gohan finally spoke up, "Why did you call?" Gohan was painfully aware that he had stuttered during that question and felt the blush spread over his cheeks. Before he could hear Videl's answer, however, his eyebrows raised in question as Vegeta stood up and walked over to where Gohan was standing.  
  
"Vegeta, what are you doing?" Gohan asked. Videl stopped mid-sentence as she realized that Gohan wasn't listening to her anymore, that he was addressing a mysterious third party, a person named Vegeta.  
  
"I decided to get myself involved. I have to find out what girl you've picked to be your mate," Vegeta said matter-of-factly.  
  
"What?" Gohan exclaimed.  
  
"Well, I surmised from the way you were blushing that she's to be your mate and I have to talk to her," Vegeta said, a smirk evident on his face. Gohan knew from that smirk that there would be no good if he let Vegeta talk to Videl. On Videl's end, she was blushing to the roots of her hair. Even though she was a little confused as to why this Vegeta person used the word "mate", she understood the basics of the conversation.   
  
Gohan gasped as Vegeta moved with super-speed and grabbed the phone. Gohan grabbed the phone, not able to get it away from Vegeta, but still preventing Vegeta from placing the phone to his ear.  
  
"Hey, brat, what do you think you're doing!" Vegeta exclaimed.  
  
"Give me back the phone, Vegeta," Gohan demanded. Videl could hear the anger in Gohan's voice as he spoke those words. Vegeta, meanwhile, pulled the phone closer to him.  
  
"Like I would ever take orders from you, brat. You should let me have the phone as I am your prince and don't you forget it." Gohan pulled the phone as well, pulling Vegeta towards him until their faces were inches apart. Gohan fixed his best glare at Vegeta and found that he meant it.  
  
"Vegeta, if you don't give me the phone back right now, I'll kick your fucking ass from here to the moon and back, got it?" Gohan threatened in a low voice so those in the kitchen wouldn't be able to hear him. Videl was shocked at Gohan's words; she had never heard Gohan so pissed before. Vegeta regarded Gohan for several moments before relinquishing his hold on the phone.  
  
"Fine, brat, you have the phone back. I don't need to talk to her after all. The way you're acting makes it all clear," Vegeta said with a wave of his hand as he walked back to the table and resumed eating. Gohan sighed in relief as he pressed the phone back to his ear.  
  
"Sorry about that. Vegeta's a pain in the butt," Gohan said, moving into the living room to separate himself from the rest of the group.  
  
"It's ok," Videl stuttered slightly, "You sure sounded mad, though."  
  
"That's because he knows all the right buttons to push and he does it expertly. I guess you could say it comes from years of practice, being married to Bulma and all," Gohan said as he sat down at the couch, "So, back to why you called. Do you have a question or something?" Gohan asked.  
  
"Well, kinda. You see, I forgot to write down the math homework in class today. You think you could give it to me?"   
  
"Sure thing!" Gohan exclaimed as he rushed upstairs, "Just let me get it out." After finding his homework, he relayed that night's math assignment over to Videl. Thanking him, Videl let him get back to dinner and hung up the phone.   
  
Gohan sighed as he turned off the phone and walked back downstairs. Replacing the phone in its cradle, he walked into the kitchen and was relieved to see that his dinner hadn't been touched. As he sat back at the table, Trunks and Goten looked over at him, mischievous smiles on their faces.  
  
"Kissy, kissy," they both laughed.   
  
"Oh, shut up," Gohan grumbled before focusing all his attention back onto his food.   
  
------------  
  
Heehee...poor Gohan, tortured mercilessly by friends and family. Hey, this is a Gohan-Torture story, so it's allowed! 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: see part 1  
  
------The Clothes Off Your Back------  
  
The next morning, Gohan woke up with a groan. Looking over at his alarm clock, he was surprised.  
  
"Well, looks like I managed to get almost three hours of sleep," Gohan mumbled sleepily. Goten and Trunks hadn't gone to bed until nearly 3:30 in the morning and had been active enough to keep Gohan up until then. Unfortunately, Gohan didn't have a child's endless amount of energy to replenish him and wished fervently that he didn't have to go to school, but knew that he did.   
  
Pushing himself out of bed laboriously, Gohan stumbled over to his closet and picked out something that he hoped remotely matched. Gohan then decided that the only way he was going to fully wake up was a cold shower, the only thing strong enough to jolt him out of his sleepy state. Just as Gohan thought, he woke up with a yelp as the freezing cold water hit his skin.   
  
"Now THIS is going to be a crappy day," Gohan muttered to himself as he showered, trying his hardest to ignore the cold spray at his back. After finishing his shower, Gohan dried off with his ki and dressed in a rather simple ensemble: a long-sleeved, white button down shirt and a pair of khaki slacks. Dressed and ready to go, Gohan made his way downstairs, only to see his mother making breakfast, looking as if she had a full night's rest.  
  
"How'd you do it?" Gohan asked. Chi-Chi let out a small scream and turned, glaring slightly at Gohan.  
  
"Would you please announce your presence next time?" Chi-Chi asked. Gohan blushed sheepishly.   
  
"Sorry," Gohan mumbled as he sat down at the table, "But my question still stands. How come you look like you got all the sleep in the world?" Chi-Chi grinned at Gohan over her shoulder.  
  
"Easy, sleeping pills," Chi-Chi responded. Gohan's eyes nearly popped out of his head.  
  
"Sleeping pills? Mom, how often do you take those?" Gohan asked out of worry.  
  
"Only when Trunks is over," Chi-Chi said as if it was the most obvious thing. Gohan breathed out a sigh of relief.  
  
"Oh, good. You know those are habit forming, don't you?" Chi-Chi nodded.  
  
"That's why I only take them when situations like this come up," Chi-Chi said, referring to Trunks coming over as one of those situations.   
  
"That's a relief," Gohan said, eyeing his mother carefully as she scrutinized him.  
  
"What?" he asked. Chi-Chi eyed him for a few more seconds before putting down what she was doing and walking over to her oldest son. Reaching out with her hands, she unbuttoned the top few buttons of Gohan's shirt.  
  
"There, much better. I swear, you Saiya-jins always look better when the top few buttons of a shirt are undone. Shows off that muscular chest," Chi-Chi said nonchalantly, turning back to finishing off breakfast. Gohan blushed at the remark, but let it slide, not having the energy to get worked up about it.   
  
Breakfast, as usual, turned out to be a wonderful affair for anything have to do with food is wonderful to a Saiya-jin. Gohan quickly polished off his breakfast, putting down his chopsticks with a broad smile on his face.  
  
"Fantastic, as usual mom," Gohan said, leaning over to give Chi-Chi a kiss on the cheek. Chi-Chi smiled at the compliment.  
  
"Thank you, Gohan," Chi-Chi said, glancing over at the clock, "You better get going or you'll be late for school." Gohan nodded, grabbed a lunch capsule and his bag before rushing out the door.  
  
"Bye mom!" Gohan called out as he shut the door behind him. Chi-Chi smiled and sighed before turning back to make more food for her other son and his friend.  
  
***  
  
Gohan flew to school at a moderate pace and arrived at his usual landing spot with more than enough time to get to school. The walk to school was rather uneventful, but the minute he stepped onto school grounds, all female eyes were, once again, on him. Gohan shook his head in disappointment, for he had hoped, foolishly hoped, but hoped nonetheless, that he wouldn't be the focus of attention again that day. Sadly, no such luck.   
  
Deciding to ignore all the stares he was receiving, Gohan made his way to his classroom, smiling slightly as he found Videl sitting in her seat, occupying her time with a book. He took his usual seat, which was now next to Videl's said, and placed his bag on the floor.  
  
"'Morning, Videl," Gohan said. Videl glanced over, immediately noticing the part of his chest that was shown off through the top of his unbuttoned shirt.  
  
"Good morning, Gohan," Videl said, still looking at him, "You look tired." Gohan chuckled.  
  
"That's because I am. Trunks, Bulma's son, spent the night last night with Goten. They stayed up all night long and didn't go to bed until about 3:30 this morning. I got about three hours of sleep," Gohan explained. Videl gave Gohan a small smile.  
  
"I'm sorry. That must have sucked. But, it could be worse, you know," Videl said. Gohan chuckled again.  
  
"Don't I know it? Bulma and Vegeta could have decided to spend the night as well," Gohan said. Videl raised an eyebrow.  
  
"And why would that be so bad?" Videl inquired. Gohan looked over at Videl.  
  
"Well, you see, Bulma and Vegeta are rather active at night, just in a different way, if you catch my drift." A light blush spread to Videl's cheeks as she comprehended Gohan's meaning.  
  
"You're right, that would be worse," Videl said.   
  
"It would be especially worse considering how neither of them is very quiet when pursuing these nightly activities," Gohan said remorsefully. Gohan, however much he wouldn't admit it, was used to such noises. His parents, to his embarrassment, were the same when Goku was alive.   
  
Hmm, wonder if it's a Saiya-jin thing to be quite noisy, Gohan thought with a blush. Videl noticed the light coloring on Gohan's cheeks and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"You ok, Gohan?" Videl asked. Gohan shook himself out of his thoughts and his blush disappeared.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine," Gohan replied just as the sensei walked into class, prepared to start the morning's lecture.  
  
***  
  
Lunch had arrived all too quickly for Gohan's liking. Sending Videl ahead of him, Gohan stayed behind in class to talk to his sensei about some extra work to occupy his time at home in the hopes that if he lingered behind in class, his fan club, as he was calling them, would get bored from waiting for him and go off to lunch. But, as was said earlier, Gohan had no such luck.   
  
The moment he exited his classroom, he spotted a large group of girls running for him. Gohan let out a yell of surprise before turning and running in the opposite direction, hoping to lose them. Unfortunately for Gohan, the group of girls running behind him was just a ruse to trap him elsewhere. Running down the halls, he didn't notice at an upcoming corner that there was another smaller group of girls, all of them waiting to pounce.   
  
As he ran by, they reached out for him, but only managed to snag his shirt. The shirt, flimsy as it was compared to Gohan's strength, ripped off easily as Gohan ran in the opposite direction that the shirt was being pulled in. Gohan didn't even notice as he ran through the double doors that led to the courtyard. The moment he stepped outside, everybody spotted him, completely shirtless. Gohan froze, wondering what they were all staring at for several moments before Videl approached him, trying her hardest not to stare at his bare chest.  
  
"Hey Gohan, what happened to your shirt?" Videl asked. Gohan looked at her, confusion spelled out on his face, before looking down. When he was he was sans shirt, he let out a loud yell.  
  
"What happened to my shirt?" Gohan exclaimed before turning around and swinging the double doors behind him wide open. There, he saw a scene reminiscent of the day before: a large group of cheerleaders, or Stripleaders if you prefer, fighting over something that Gohan instinctively knew was his shirt. Gohan moaned and dropped his head into his hands.  
  
"Great, now I have no shirt at all. I give up. I might as well come to school naked," Gohan murmured to himself. Videl placed a hand on his shoulder and Gohan ignored the feeling of her hand on his skin.  
  
"Well, at least you still have your pants," Videl said, "Be lucky they haven't stolen those." Gohan turned and looked over at her.  
  
"At this rate, I'm not going to have any clothes left!" Gohan exclaimed. Videl just looked at him with sympathy as he turned back to the fight over his shirt. Videl took that opportunity to shamelessly check out Gohan's bare torso.   
  
Damn, he really is built! Videl mentally exclaimed, her eyes looking over everything from his well formed arms to his washboard stomach. She couldn't help but be impressed at the sight. I wonder how he got all those muscles, Videl thought, turning her head to see Sharpener approaching.  
  
"Hey, Gohan, sorry about your shirt," Sharpener said as he stood on the other side of Gohan, "Here you can borrow my shirt. Just try to not stretch it out too much." Videl watched as Sharpener removed his outer shirt, noticing for the first time that he was wearing a style the emulated the one Gohan had worn the day before. Sharpener handed Gohan the white, short-sleeved shirt and Gohan took it gratefully.  
  
"Thanks, Sharpener," Gohan said as he put it on, buttoning it up. He was a little disappointed to see that it didn't fit him that well across his chest, but he supposed it was better than nothing, so he left the top few buttons undone.  
  
"No problem, buddy," Sharpener said, clapping Gohan on the back. Gohan looked back at the group fighting over his shirt and sighed.  
  
"I just want to ignore that and eat lunch now," Gohan said as he pulled a capsule from his pocket. Sharpener and Videl nodded before the three of them went over to where Eraser was waiting underneath their usual tree.  
  
"Hey Gohan," Eraser greeted, "I saw what happened over there. They just won't leave you alone, will they?" Gohan shook his head ruefully.  
  
"No, unfortunately, they won't. I'm getting quite sick of it," Gohan admitted. Eraser gave Gohan a gentle smile.  
  
"Well, just forget about it for the moment. I'm sure you're hungry. Eating will make you feel better," Eraser comforted. Gohan smiled in return.  
  
"You're right, Eraser. Eating does always make me feel better." And, with that, Gohan opened up the capsule containing the day's lunch and, with fervor, the four teenagers began eating their lunch.  
  
***  
  
The next morning, Gohan woke up the sound of his alarm and almost tossed a ki blast at it for he did not want to get out of bed.   
  
"Thursday. I hate Thursdays," Gohan grumbled. Thursday was Gohan's least favorite day of the week for on Thursday, the two classes before lunch were replaced with PE and Gohan always found a way to embarrass himself at least once in PE.   
  
Well, at least mom did my laundry yesterday, Gohan smiled, getting out of bed. Picking out his usual school clothes, Gohan went through his normal morning routine before heading down to the kitchen for breakfast. Chi-Chi turned around as she heard her son enter the kitchen, looking much happier than he had for the past few days. Chi-Chi smiled.  
  
"Good morning, Gohan. Your breakfast is almost ready," Chi-Chi announced. Gohan smiled back at Chi-Chi.  
  
"Thanks, mom," Gohan said, sitting down at the table, "Oh, by the way, thanks for doing my laundry yesterday." Chi-Chi dismissed Gohan's words with a wave of her hand.  
  
"It was nothing, Gohan. Just doing my job as your mother," Chi-Chi said. She then turned back to her task of making breakfast and silence fell in the kitchen. Moments later, a small blur blew into the kitchen in the form of a little boy. Goten immediately took his seat at the table.  
  
"Hey mom, is breakfast almost ready?" Goten asked. Gohan could see Goten almost drooling at the thought of food.  
  
"In a minute, Goten," Chi-Chi answered patiently. The two young half Saiya-jins waited for their breakfast, Goten not quite so patiently, and, just like Chi-Chi promised, food was on the table a few minutes later. Gohan and Goten both went after their food in a very Saiya-jin-like manner, Gohan eating at a slightly faster pace than Goten since he had to leave for school soon.   
  
Gohan finished his breakfast rather quickly, rising from his seat the second he finished. Grabbing his bag, he gave Chi-Chi a quick kiss on the cheek.  
  
"I'll see you when I get home," Gohan announced as he ran out the front door and took to the skies. Flying to school, Gohan took the opportunity to admire the landscape for the first time in a few days. As he flew over woods and hills, Gohan couldn't help but smile.   
  
It is rather pretty out here. I can see why dad decided to live out here, Gohan thought as he quickly approached Satan City. Gohan soon spotted his normal, deserted landing area and descended rapidly, moving at speeds that were too fast for normal humans to see. From there, it was only a quick walk to school.   
  
A short ten minutes later, Gohan set foot onto the grounds of Orange Star High School. All around him, he saw all the girls perk up as they spotted him and heard many grumbles of disappointment that he was dressed in his normal clothes. But, that still didn't stop them from looking at him. It seemed that even though he was dressed normally again, they female student body wasn't going to forget the display Son Gohan had put on for the three days before. Gohan sighed with resignation.   
  
School's never going to be the same again, Gohan thought, only slightly disappointed since he didn't expect anything much different. As he made his way to his classroom, he spotted Videl walking a few feet ahead of him.  
  
"Hey Videl," Gohan called out as he approached her. Videl turned around and, seeing Gohan, smiled widely at him.  
  
"Good morning, Gohan," Videl said, "I can see that you're back to your usual style this morning." Gohan nodded, slightly taken aback by Videl's dazzling and sincere smile.  
  
"Yup, my mom did my laundry yesterday," Gohan said proudly.   
  
"Happy to have things back to normal?" Videl asked. Gohan shrugged as his smile faded a bit.  
  
"Yeah, I guess. Though girls are still staring at me. I wish they wouldn't do that," Gohan commented. Videl laughed slightly.  
  
"Gohan, they're never going to stop doing that. They were doing that before Monday. You've always been known as cute around this school. Now all the girls think you're hot," Videl explained. Gohan looked shocked before a small, teasing smile appeared on his face.  
  
"Do you think I'm hot, Videl?" Gohan asked. Though Videl could hear the teasing tone in his voice, she still blushed lightly at the question. Turning to him, she gave him a punch on the arm.  
  
"I think you're good-looking, you dork. Does that answer your question?" Videl inquired gruffly. Gohan nodded.  
  
"Yeah, but you didn't have to get so angry," Gohan said, "One might think that with your tone of voice, you were trying to hide something." Videl's eyes widened.  
  
"I'm not trying to hide anything, Gohan. Now, come one, let's go to class." Gohan smirked.  
  
"Yes, ma'am," Gohan said, mock-saluting her. Videl rolled her eyes.  
  
"Very funny, Sergeant," Videl dead-panned. Gohan laughed.  
  
"I thought so, too."   
  
----------  
  
Videl is such a dominatrix in her own way, don't you think? I mean, Gohan could, physically, easily be so subdued if he weren't so fricken strong, you know? 


	4. Chapter 4 the end

Disclaimer: see part 1 (and if you don't understand that I don't DBZ by now, you need some serious help)  
  
------The Clothes Off Your Back------  
  
Gohan felt like hitting his head against his gym locker as he got undressed after PE.  
  
"Look, Gohan," Sharpener said from across the aisle, putting his clothes in his respective locker, "It could have been much worse." Gohan groaned.  
  
"No, it couldn't have, Sharpener. I broke both the basketball and the hoop when I tried to make a shot!" Gohan exclaimed. Sharpener chuckled at the memory.  
  
"It was kinda funny when the deflated basketball floated down and landed on Sensei's head," Sharpener said, smiling at the memory.  
  
"You're not helping, Sharpener," Gohan said as he placed his clothes in his locker and wrapped a towel around his naked body. Sharpener followed suit and, together, the two walked to the showers.  
  
"Sorry, dude, but it was funny!" Sharpener exclaimed, holding his hands out pleadingly. Gohan sighed.  
  
"Let's just forget it, ok?" Gohan asked.   
  
"Sure, no problem. Now, let's hurry up. I wanna go eat lunch," Sharpener said. Gohan nodded. For all that Gohan sometimes found Sharpener's womanizing attitudes annoying, Gohan had to admit that Sharpener was one of his close friends at Orange Star High and that they had a lot in common, including a similar love for food and wanting to be clean after physical activity. Together, they joined the rest of their male classmates in the showers, quickly scrubbing themselves clean after two hours of PE.   
  
While Gohan was in the showers, he couldn't hear anything outside of them due to the running water and sounds of conversation floating around him. It was unfortunate that he couldn't, though, because he didn't hear the locker room door open and the hushed giggles that followed.  
  
"Come on girls, I know where his locker is," one girl whispered and, together, they made their way to his locker. After finding it and securing their prize, they left, leaving the locker area quiet once more. Gohan finished his shower quickly and after drying off, he wrapped his towel around his waist while he walked over to his locker. When he got there and looked inside, he nearly passed out.   
  
There, sitting on the top shelf was everything that Gohan had carried to school with him that day, his wallet and other such items, but not what they were carried in.  
  
"My clothes," Gohan whispered, too shocked to speak, "Where did they go?" Gohan sank to the bench behind him and laid his head in his hands, thinking about who could have taken his clothes. It didn't take him long to think about who it was.  
  
"Stupid cheerleaders," Gohan grumbled, "Stole my clothes and now I'm never getting them back." Gohan felt like crying. Sharpener approached Gohan a few moments later, looking freshly cleaned, and noticed Gohan's dejected attitude.  
  
"Hey, what happened, Gohan?" Sharpener asked. Gohan looked up at Sharpener.  
  
"The cheerleaders snuck into the locker room and stole my clothes," Gohan explained simply. Sharpener blanched.  
  
"That sucks," Sharpener said, "But I can't help you this time dude. I have no extra clothes to give you today. But, what I can do is tell the PE sensei after I get dressed and maybe he can let you call home so someone there can bring by another set of clothes." Gohan looked at Sharpener gratefully.  
  
"That would be awesome, Sharpener," Gohan said as Sharpener got dressed.   
  
"No problem," Sharpener said as he finished, "I'll go find him right now." With that, Sharpener walked away, leaving Gohan alone in the locker room. Sharpener searched for the PE sensei, finding him in the gym talking to Videl.   
  
Good. Maybe Videl can help comfort Gohan, Sharpener thought upon seeing Videl. He knew there was a mutual attraction between the two and hoped they would do something about it sooner rather than later.   
  
It would make everyone happy if they would stop dancing around each other, Sharpener thought as he approached the two.   
  
"Excuse me, Sensei," Sharpener said. The older man turned from Videl, whom he had been talking about the upcoming martial arts segment with, and looked over at Sharpener.  
  
"What is it?" the sensei asked.  
  
"I have a favor to ask. You see, someone stole the clothes out of Gohan's locker and now he has nothing to wear. Do you think that he could use your phone to call someone so he could have some clothes for the rest of the day?" The sensei nodded.  
  
"Of course," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a set of keys, "Videl, you go with him. You're the only one I trust with these keys. Gohan may wait in my office for someone to bring him more clothes. I would like these keys back after the young Mr. Son gets dressed. Now, I'm going to go eat lunch. Tell Gohan I'm sorry." With that, the PE sensei walked away, leaving Sharpener and Videl alone.  
  
"Is he ok?" Videl asked as they walked towards the guys' locker room. Sharpener shrugged.  
  
"As well as can be expected for someone who just got his clothes stolen. The funny thing is that they left everything that was in his pockets," Sharpener said, "So Gohan figures that it was the cheerleaders who just wanted his clothes, not what was in his pockets." Sharpener heard Videl growl in anger at the mention of cheerleaders. It was no secret around Orange Star High School that the cheerleaders weren't exactly Videl's favorite group of people.  
  
"They have got to stop this senseless clothes pilfering," Videl said as the two entered the locker room.  
  
"Good luck trying to stop them," Sharpener said as they rounded a corner, coming upon Gohan quickly.  
  
"Hey Gohan," Videl said. Gohan sat up straight at the sound of Videl's voice and looked over at her.  
  
"Hey Videl," Gohan greeted, his words a mumble.  
  
"I heard about what happened to your clothes. The PE sensei gave us the keys to his office so we could call your house and you can wait in there until your clothes get here," Videl explained. Gohan sighed in relief.  
  
"Finally, something is going my way today," Gohan said. Sharpener looked back and forth between Gohan and Videl before clapping his hands together.  
  
"Well, you two kids have fun. I'm going to lunch," Sharpener said. Gohan's brow furrowed in confusion.  
  
"But, Sharpener, you have no lunch," Gohan mentioned. The blond boy shrugged.  
  
"No biggie. I have money on me. I'll just brave the lunch lines today. See you guys later." Waving at them, Sharpener turned and walked out of the guys' locker room, leaving Videl and Gohan alone.   
  
"Come on, let's go to sensei's office. Luckily, his office is inside the guys' locker room, so no one has to see you in just a towel," Videl said. Gohan nodded.  
  
"Good." Gohan stood up and the two of them walked through the guys' locker room to the PE sensei's office. During the walk, Videl couldn't keep herself from stealing glances at Gohan. Wearing just a towel, his figure was clearly outlined. Her gaze drifted down his broad shoulders, lean hips, and muscular legs.   
  
Kami, he's hot, Videl thought, not afraid to admit it to herself.  
  
"Here it is," Videl said as they approached the door. It took several tries, but Videl eventually found the right key and the door swung open.  
  
"After you," Gohan said, still managing to be courteous even scantily dressed as he was. Videl smiled at him before entering, Gohan following her into the small office. Videl sat down in one of the chairs in front of the small desk in the room as Gohan walked over to the phone that was perched on the corner of the desk. Quickly dialing his own number, Gohan waited for someone to pick up.  
  
"Hello?" the response came a few seconds later. Gohan chuckled; how did he know that Goten was going to pick up the phone?  
  
"Hey, Squirt. Is mom around?" Gohan asked.  
  
"Hi Gohan! Aren't you at school?" Goten asked.  
  
"Yeah, Goten, I am. But, I need to talk to mom. It's an emergency." Gohan heard Goten gasp in worry.  
  
"What's wrong, onii-chan? Are you hurt? Are you being attacked?" Goten asked hurriedly. Gohan laughed.  
  
"No, Goten, I'm fine. My clothes got stolen and I need new ones," Gohan explained.   
  
"Oh," Goten said, his voice dropping to a whisper, "Are you nakie?" Gohan looked down at his towel clad form and shrugged.  
  
"Yeah, I am, Goten," Gohan said, knowing that Goten wouldn't think it that big of a deal if Gohan had a towel on; Goten was in a stage where being naked around other people was a bad thing and would be more likely to help Gohan if he thought Gohan was naked.  
  
"Oh-no, onii-chan. You have to have clothes right now!" Goten exclaimed.  
  
"I know," Gohan said, "That's why I'm calling. So, can I talk to mom?" Goten let out an apprehensive whining sound.  
  
"That might be a problem, onii-chan. Mom's taking a nap," Goten said.  
  
"Oh," Gohan murmured, seeing the problem. A rule at the Son household was that Chi-Chi was not to be disturbed while sleeping for anything less that nuclear war or the end of the world and Gohan's situation was neither.  
  
"But, I can take your clothes to you!" Goten said, "I can use Kinto'un and follow your ki to where you are. You just have to raise it so I can sense it out here." Gohan considered Goten's words for a few moments.  
  
"Ok, Goten. That sounds like a good idea. Do you know what clothes to bring?" Gohan asked. There was a long pause as Goten thought about it.  
  
"Yeah, I do. I know exactly what to bring. Just raise your ki and I'll be there in a little while, ok? Bye onii-chan!" Gohan was taken aback as he heard a click on the other end of the phone. Sighing, Gohan set the phone down on its' receiver and sat next to Videl as he raised his ki so Goten could locate him.  
  
"Well, that's all taken care of," Gohan said, "I just gotta wait until Goten gets here." Videl raised an eyebrow.  
  
"You mean Goten's coming here to bring you your clothes? How is he getting here?" Gohan chuckled.  
  
"Would you believe me if I told you he was going to fly on a magic cloud to get here?" Gohan asked. Videl gave him a funny look.  
  
"Of course not! What kind of retarded answer is that?" Videl questioned. Gohan shrugged.  
  
"I guess not," Gohan said. Videl harrumphed.  
  
"Well, if you don't want to tell me, that's your choice," Videl pouted. There was silence for several minutes as they sat there waiting for Goten to arrive. Videl looked over at Gohan and was struck by the look of absolute misery on his face.  
  
"Hey, Gohan, what's wrong?" Videl asked. Gohan sighed sadly.  
  
"My life's one big joke, Videl," Gohan whispered. Wanting to comfort him, Videl walked over and sat down on his lap, not her brightest move, but the only thing she could think of. Smiling down at him, she drew him into a hug.  
  
"You're life's not a joke, Gohan. You're just on the receiving end of a lot of bad events. Your life could be much worse," Videl said. Gohan pulled away from the hug and smiled up at her, liking having her so close.  
  
"Yeah, I guess you're right, Videl." Videl's face took on a smug look.  
  
"Of course I'm right," she joked.  
  
"'Cause you're always right, huh?" Gohan asked. Videl nodded.  
  
"Exactly." Gohan chuckled.  
  
"You're so funny, Videl," Gohan said, reaching up to brush away a stray strand of hair that had fallen in her face. Videl jumped as Gohan's fingers touched her skin as he tucked away her hair behind her ear. As soon as he did it, Gohan immediately realized what he had done and his face fell into a look of panic.  
  
"Oh, Kami! Videl, I'm so sorry. I wasn't aware of what I was doing!" Gohan exclaimed as he pulled his arms away from their position of encircling her, his eyes cast downward. Videl blushed.  
  
"It's ok," she whispered, "I didn't mind." Gohan smiled in relief.  
  
"Really?" he asked, lifting his head to look at her. Videl, from her position on his lap, had to look down slightly to look him in the eye.  
  
"Yes, I didn't mind," she said, leaning in a bit. It was at this point that they both realized that their faces were only centimeters apart. With no distractions or anything to disturb them, the two teenagers just looked at each other for several moments before slowly moving towards each other. Their lips met in what seemed an eternity later in a soft kiss, one that shocked the two of them at how good it felt.   
  
Pulling away a few minutes later, they were both blushing at what had just happened. Videl stared at Gohan, unable to believe what had just happened, before the desire she had felt over him for the past few days took over. Suddenly, Videl pulled Gohan into a passionate kiss, crushing her lips up against his. Gohan froze for a few moments at the intensity of Videl's kiss before kissing her back with equal passion. Gohan brought his hands to tangle them in Videl's hair and quickly became frustrated when he found he couldn't due to her pigtails.   
  
Growling against her lips, Gohan seized a hair tie in each hand and pulled them out of her hair, tossing them to the floor. Happy with the success of his mission, Gohan's fingers dove into Videl's hair, tangling among the silky black strands. Videl moaned as Gohan's fingers moved through her scalp and she placed her hands behind his neck, playing with the hair at the nape. Slowly, Gohan's fingers left her hair and drifted down as he caressed her back and arms, familiarizing himself with her.   
  
They sat their like that for a long time, Videl's hands having started to wander as well, their passion escalating until both were ready to do something they weren't prepared for. Gohan pulled away sharply, his chest heaving as he tried to calm himself down. He looked up at Videl, taking note of her flushed cheeks and swollen lips.  
  
"We should stop," Gohan said, his voice ragged. Videl nodded.  
  
"Yes, we should. But, Kami, I don't want to. I want you so badly," Videl whispered.  
  
"I know," Gohan said, "I want you too. But we're not ready for that yet." Videl smiled.  
  
"Happy to know you don't just want to be with me for sex." Gohan looked up at Videl, a shocked look on his face.  
  
"Of course not. I mean, I want to do that with you. But I want to be with you not because of sex or because you're beautiful. I want to be with you because of what's in here," Gohan said, tapping the side of Videl's head slightly.  
  
"I started out attracted to your personality. The rest is just a bonus," Gohan continued. Videl's smile broadened.  
  
"You're probably the only guy in school who thinks that, Gohan. All of them want to be with me because of who my father is or because they're physically attracted to me. I try to cover up my looks, but I can't cover up who my father is," Videl said. Gohan snorted in disgust.  
  
"No offense, Videl, but those who are chasing after you because of your father are being seriously misled by what type of person they think your father is." It was Videl's turn to be shocked as she down at Gohan.  
  
"Finally someone who thinks of him the same way I do! Gohan, you're the best!" Videl exclaimed as she leaned down and kissed him. Gohan happily kissed her back, but was not too happy when he was interrupted.  
  
"So, she IS your girlfriend!" a voice from the door called out. Both Videl and Gohan turned to see Goten standing in the doorway, a small bag in his hand.  
  
"Ooh, kissy, kissy, kissy!" Goten sang. Gohan blushed and sighed.  
  
"Very funny, Goten. Give me the bag." Goten complied and walked over to where Gohan and Videl were sitting.  
  
"Are you going to tell mom?" Goten asked, "Because if you don't, I'm gonna." Gohan rolled his eyes.  
  
"Of course I'm going to tell mom," Gohan said as he peered into the bag, "Just what clothes did you bring anyway?" Goten smiled broadly.  
  
"Open the bag!" Goten exclaimed. Gohan reached into the bag and pulled out a very familiar set of clothing.  
  
"Oh, thank you," Gohan groaned, "For bringing my gi." Goten smiled broadly, not hearing the sarcastic tone of Gohan's voice.  
  
"You're welcome, nii-chan!" Goten exclaimed.  
  
"Why did you bring this?" Gohan asked. Goten looked a little confused at his brother's displeasure.  
  
"Well, because you needed clothes and you look just like dad when you wear that," Goten answered, all sincere innocence. Gohan couldn't help but smile.  
  
"These clothes are fine, Goten. Thank you for bringing them here. Now, the two of you get out so as I can get dressed," Gohan said, gently pushing Videl off of his lap as he stood up. Both Goten and Videl exited the small office and Gohan closed the door behind them. As he changed, Goten and Videl stood outside the door, waiting.  
  
"So, you're Goten, huh?" Videl asked, smiling down at the little kid. Goten nodded.  
  
"Uh-huh. What's your name?"  
  
"My name's Videl. You know, that was very nice of you to bring your brother clothes after his got stolen," Videl commented.  
  
"Onii-chan would have done it for me," Goten said.  
  
"You love Gohan, don't you?" Videl asked.   
  
"Of course! Onii-chan is the coolest brother in the entire world! He's so strong and smart and everything cool. He's stronger than me, than Vegeta, even my dad," Goten said, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.  
  
"What's your dad like?" Videl asked. A frown fell on Goten's face.  
  
"I don't know," Goten said quietly, "He died before I was born." Videl immediately regretted asking the question.  
  
"I'm sorry," Videl said, kneeling down in front of Goten so they were eye-to-eye. Goten shook his head.  
  
"It's ok," Goten said, "Gohan is kinda like my dad, too. So I have a dad and a brother." Videl's eyes started to water at the sincerity of Goten's words. Suddenly, the door next to them opened and Gohan emerged in an orange and blue gi.  
  
"Onii-chan, you look so cool!" Goten exclaimed, his mood a complete turn-around from what it had been only moments before. Gohan smiled.  
  
"Thanks, Goten," Gohan said. Videl scrutinized Gohan carefully.  
  
"Where have I seen that gi before?" Videl asked. Gohan looked at her innocently.  
  
"Well, my dad used to wear one just like it," Gohan answered. Suddenly, it clicked; she knew where she had seen the gi before.  
  
"Your dad is Son Goku?" Videl exclaimed. Gohan looked at her like she was insane.  
  
"Yeah, I thought you knew that already," Gohan admitted, honestly confused as to why it was such a big deal. Videl shook her head violently.  
  
"No, I did not!" Videl yelled, "Why didn't you tell me your dad is famous?" Gohan and Goten looked at each other quizzically.  
  
"Dad was famous?" Gohan asked. Videl looked at Gohan like he was stupid.  
  
"Of course he's famous! He made it to the finals at the Tenkaichi Budoukai when he was only 12 and won it when he was 18! He blew up the ring the time he won it," Videl explained.  
  
"Yeah, I know," Gohan said, but Videl didn't hear him.  
  
"So, if your dad's Son Goku, then your mother must be the only woman to have made it to the semi-finals, Chi-Chi, daughter of Gyuu-Mao." Videl was silent again. "You're only partially human?" Videl exclaimed. Gohan looked at her in surprise; how had she guessed about his Saiya-jin half?  
  
"How'd you know that?" Gohan asked, his voice a whisper. Videl shot him a look.  
  
"Well, your grandfather's a demon, you know. So that makes you about a quarter demon," Videl explained. Gohan looked thoughtful about that bit of information.  
  
"Oh, I didn't know grandpa was a demon," Goten said.  
  
"Neither did I," Gohan admitted. Videl about fell over.  
  
"Wait, you guys didn't know about your grandfather being a demon, but you knew you weren't fully human? So is there something strange about your dad's side of the family." Goten and Gohan glanced at each other again; they weren't entire sure if Videl, an outsider, should know about their alien half. Gohan sighed as he decided Videl should know seeing how as she'd eventually find out.   
  
"Videl, come here," Gohan said. Videl was confused, but complied. She walked forward until she was flush up against Gohan. Gohan grabbed her hand and guided it around so it was pressed against his back.  
  
"Gohan, what am I doing?" Videl asked.  
  
"Put your hand underneath my shirt and feel around my lower back a bit. I'm offering you proof before I make a claim," Gohan explained. Videl looked up at Gohan quizzically, but did as he asked. It didn't take her long of feeling around his lower back to find a small, round nub of flesh covered in soft fur. She heard Gohan gasp as her fingers ran over it and she figured it was incredibly sensitive.  
  
"What is that, Gohan?" she asked. He looked down at her sternly.  
  
"That is where my tail used to be," Gohan said simply. Videl was shocked.  
  
"Your…tail?" Videl whispered.  
  
"Yes, my tail. It was gotten rid of when I was about 5. My father had one, if you've seen footage of the 21st and 22nd Tenkaichi Budoukai. It's genetic and it's a common trait of my father's race." Videl backed up at Gohan's words.  
  
"You mean your father wasn't human at all?" Videl asked. Gohan shook his head, looking worried at delving this piece of information.  
  
"No, he wasn't. My father wasn't even born on this planet, Videl. He's an alien, a Saiya-jin, to be precise, from a planet that was destroyed shortly after he was born. Remember that guy Vegeta from the phone? He's the last surviving royal from Vegetasei. Technically, he's the king, but, since he wasn't crowned, he's still considered a prince."  
  
"So you're half Saiya-jin," Videl stated. Gohan nodded.  
  
"I didn't even know until I was four. My father thought he was just a human with extraordinary powers. It turns out that the reason he was so strong was because of his Saiya-jin blood. He passed that on to me and Goten, just as Vegeta did to Trunks. Myself, Goten, Trunks, and Vegeta are the only four people in the universe with Saiya-jin blood and Vegeta is the only pure-blooded Saiya-jin left, or so we think. We haven't explored the whole universe, really, just a small part, so there could be other Saiya-jins elsewhere, but I doubt we would ever find them." Gohan stopped talking when he noticed Videl spacing out.  
  
"Videl, you ok?" Gohan asked.   
  
"I don't know why, but I believe you. I mean, the idea sounds totally ridiculous, but I know you're telling me the truth. Is that the big secret you were hiding from me?" Videl asked. Gohan smiled.  
  
"One of the two," Gohan responded.  
  
"What secret?" Goten asked. Gohan rolled his eyes and leaned over to whisper in Goten's ear.  
  
"That I defeated Cell, not her father. Her dad's Hercule Satan, so I don't want her finding out yet that I beat Cell instead of her dad," Gohan said.  
  
"Oh," Goten said out loud, "I get it." Videl eyed the two of them carefully.  
  
"And when will I find out this secret?" Videl asked.  
  
"When you're ready to believe that you're dad is not the strongest person on this planet," Gohan responded. Videl scoffed.  
  
"I already know that," Videl stated, "I mean, I've never believed that he defeated Cell all by himself. The things that Cell did were just too inhuman." Gohan smirked.  
  
"I guess you're ready for the truth, then. The truth is that your father never had anything to do with defeating Cell," Gohan said, pondering that statement for a second, "Except maybe for tossing a robotic head." Videl looked at Gohan carefully.  
  
"Well, if my father didn't have anything to do with Cell's defeat, who killed him?" Videl asked. Gohan took a deep breath, figuring that a visual couldn't help with the truth. Concentrating intensely, Gohan turned into a Super Saiya-jin right in front of Videl's eyes. Videl didn't even need Gohan to say anything as she saw Gohan's spectacular transformation.  
  
"You defeated Cell. Your father was the man who fought Cell after my father was knocked out of the ring. You were the little boy who fought your dad." Gohan nodded.  
  
"That's right," Gohan said, "That's all my secrets, Videl. Everything else is just trivial." Videl looked confused.  
  
"But, why didn't you take credit for what you did? Why'd you let my dad?" Videl asked. Gohan shrugged.  
  
"Because my family and I never really wanted to be in the spotlight. Besides, how believable would it be if I said I had defeated Cell, even if it was the truth?" Gohan pointed out. Videl nodded.  
  
"I guess you have a point. But, wow…" Videl trailed off as Gohan let the Super Saiya-jin transformation fade.  
  
"You must have been really strong to have defeated Cell," Videl said. Gohan nodded.  
  
"From what I hear, people across the galaxy could feel the fight between Cell and myself, that they could feel my ki and Cell's ki as we fought. I guess you could say that, in order for people across the galaxy to have sensed me, that I'm probably one of the strongest beings in the universe," Gohan said quietly. Videl looked on in shock and awe at Gohan, suddenly seeing him in an entirely new light.  
  
"I mean, that's what I'm figuring. My father won the Otherworld tournament when he first got there, so he faced the strongest warriors to ever have lived and I'm stronger than him, so I'm just guessing on that," Gohan admitted.  
  
"But, still…wow," Videl said. Gohan grimaced slightly.  
  
"Do you still want to be with me even knowing what you know about me?" Gohan asked. Videl chuckled.  
  
"What you are and what you've done doesn't change who you are, Son Gohan. It just makes you a bit more…special than everyone else. It'll take a little getting used to, the truth and everything, but it doesn't bother me that much."  
  
"You won't tell anyone about me and Cell, will you? I really don't want people to know," Gohan said. Videl shook her head.  
  
"If you don't want everyone to know, I won't say a word about it except around the people who already know, like your family and stuff," Videl said. Gohan let out a sigh of relief.  
  
"Well, that's a good thing. I don't think the world's ready for that kind of truth and I don't want to be in the spotlight," Gohan admitted.  
  
"Well," Videl said, "One of these days you're going to have to tell me exactly what happened during the Cell Games, ok?" Gohan nodded.  
  
"Sure thing," Gohan said before looking down at Goten, "You better go home, Goten, before mom wakes up and finds out you're gone." Goten nodded, but pouted a little.  
  
"Ok, onii-chan, but you're going to have to teach me how to fly one of these days. Kinto'un is kinda slow for important things," Goten said. Gohan laughed.  
  
"Ok, I'll teach you how to fly," Gohan said.  
  
"Can you teach me too?" Videl asked sheepishly, "I mean, can I learn how to?" Gohan nodded.  
  
"Of course you can. You have more than enough ki to do it. It shouldn't be much of a problem teaching you how to," Gohan responded. Videl brightened up.  
  
"Cool!" she exclaimed, "How about this weekend?" Gohan laughed at her excitement.  
  
"This weekend sounds just fine," Gohan said, "Which reminds me, there's a big get-together at my house this weekend with all of my dad's old friends. You wanna come to that too?" Videl nodded.  
  
"Sure, it sounds like it might be kinda fun," Videl said.  
  
"And it's a good thing that you now know about my alien heritage and about my defeating Cell. That way, no one will have to watch what they say," Gohan said, sounding quite relieved.   
  
"That is a good thing. No embarrassment," Videl remarked. Gohan nodded and turned down to Goten.  
  
"You better get a move on it, Squirt," Gohan said.  
  
"Ok, I'll see you later at home, onii-chan!" Goten announced before running off in an unknown direction.  
  
"So, you weren't lying about him coming here on a flying magical cloud, were you?" Videl asked as she watched Goten sprint out of sight. Gohan shook his head.  
  
"Nope, I wasn't," Gohan said, "Well, how about you and I enjoy a quick lunch before going to class. We still have at least 15 minutes and that's plenty of time to eat." Videl smiled and leaned up to kiss Gohan lightly on the lips.  
  
"That sounds just fine," she said as they exited the guys' locker room.  
  
"You are going to tell your mom about me, right?" Videl asked. Gohan laughed.  
  
"As long as you help me keep people from stealing my clothes, we have a deal," Gohan said. Videl laughed as well.  
  
"Deal, Son Gohan."  
  
--------------  
  
Aww, isn't that cute? I think I got a little carried away at the end of this, the whole Videl-finding-out-Gohan's-secrets bit, but I'm happy with it. Well, that's the end. Jaa matta, minna-san! 


End file.
